Kiawe Grill BBQ & Burgers

Very friendly owners. I had the mini bento and a side of deep fried chicken skin, nice enough to give me some vinegar for dipping.

Closed a few months ago, they’re supposed to relocate and re-​open somewhere, miss the fried chicken skin and bbq beef.

Portions are huge. You get to pick your own sides.
Get your food, grab some beer, and hit up the beach.
Try the ostrich burger.

Finally had a chance to try this place after driving by here so often. Ordered a small bbq beef plate and a kalbi/​shrimp plate. The rice was undercooked. We hardly ate the rice. The bbq beef was good, the shrimp was 5 pieces on a kabob which was kind of small, the kalbi had alot of fat on it.
Don’t think will try it again.
Maybe we ordered the wrong things or the quality is going down.

Last of the Kiawe Grill restaurants! Place is small. Just a few tables!
Kalbi is still delicious. One thing to try is the lamb chops! So good!
Sides are sparse and not much selection.
Thankfully the food is still good.

Is this the last Kiawe Grill standing? If so, I’m glad it’s close to my hood!
My BF and I like to grab dinner here because anything grilled over kiawe wood tastes much better! I tried their Ostrich Burger, which was OK — I guess I didn’t care for the coloring on the inside. I like their «Small» bento — quotation marks are definitely needed because that bento is NOT small! It’s a lot of food and I can never get over that fact!
I just had their «Children’s Burger» with cheese and an order of garlic fries and yes, those quotation marks are there again! It was not what I was expecting — I thought it would be the size of a Happy Meal burger — it was more like a Quarter Pounder! And the Garlic Fries were way too much for my BF and I to share! Not that I’m complaining — just a warning to come hungry!

I went here with a friend for an early dinner. I ordered a shrimp and steak plate. The cost and portion size were decent. The food tasted good. The shrimp came on a kabob with grilled bell peppers and onions. I remembered it very well because the sauce on it was different, it was tropical? I’m not sure what was in it but it made an impression on me. The steak was good as well, juicy and flavorful.
My only complaints include seeing two big flies buzz around us, I ending up killing one that got trapped between a poster and the window. Also, there was a lady who appeared homeless who sat down to talk with the cashier twice, she left and came back again later on.

Randomly ended up here for dinner. It’s a small place. I think it’s Korean, Mexican, local style.
Anyways, I ordered the fried mandoo tacos. I think it was 2 mandoos and bbq sauce inside. It was gooooood. I never thought of putting mandoo in tacos. I like their different taco flavors. Definitely wanna try the others next time.

I usually always order the pulehu pork chops
love the kiawe flavors, very tasty… its too bad they dont offer the korean veggies on the side like they used to… I guess times are hard these days.

We ate there once or twice a week for over 2 months you would think we would get a free small soda, staff is so so food is good but smoke smell can be a bit much at times they need to open a door once in awhile.
Minus one star for not treating regulars good, we rarely go back because we never felt appreciated after eating at another place twice, he remembered us and gave us free order of fries, thats the way to keep a client :)

If I want fast food BBQ I will choose this place over L & L hands down. I think it’s the whole Kiawe cooked thing that makes the flavor of the meats different. It’s hard to explain but it just has a smoky flavor to it. If I gotta do a quick bento to go somewhere I like to get it from here because unlike Zippis’s (which is $ 10) the mini bento here is $ 5.95 and comes with mandoo, spam, chicken, BBQ meat.
I have tried the steak-​very good too and the fried pork and again very good. And I will admit (although I know this is bad bad bad) but I have also tried the fried chicken skin with hot sauce and as bad as I know it is for you and how it’s so so bad for cholesterol I ate it and very guiltily enjoyed it!

I would give the meats a 5 star plus and two stars for the sides, how’s that? The meat is delicious — perfectly grilled with use of kiawe wood (hence the name), not too salty, the kalbi ribs melting in my mouth, a steak better than some steakhouses steaks… But the sides… Plain white rice was my favorite of them. The other two were tossed salad and some macaroni with the same dressing that tasted like sweetened mayo with a touch of lemon juice. Lets not get into any more details. But what counts– I ate my meat and licked my fingers, and the service was great. The owner accommodated to my needs and was very helpful. Just do a take out order, get your own sides and don’t expect out of this place more than it is :)

Split the $ 12 Kobe half-​pound burger with my bf. Very good burger. Good fries, too.
And they gave us a knife to cut the burger in half without us having to ask. They were kind, thoughtful, and the food was really good. We’ll be back.
There are a few parking spaces in front — though it is tough to score one, and if you do, it’s tough to get in and out.
Oct 31 Unilocal Challenge: #10/​31

Ok, after my massage I asked the masseuse the best local food place to try local food. She recommended this place, and their burgers, after a enlightening massage, I wasn’t in the mood for burgers, but for something more of a chicken BBQ craving… SO i walked here…
The place was kinda small little hole in the wall place, but man the food was awesome. I saw lots of people taking their food to go, and some business people eating there… I ordered the BBQ chicken plate (see my photo taken for this business), this came with this nicely pineapple teriyaki glaze BBQ, on a bed of moist piping hot rice, macaroni salad, sprouts & cabbage/​bok choi thing. I’d eat here again!

This review might be a little biased, as I was absolutely famished when I ate one of Kiawe Grill BBQ & Burgers’ cheeseburgers. This location is located right next to Iyasume musubi on Makaloa, two store fronts down from the koreamoku/​makaloa intersection. I settled for a deluxe (onion, tomato, lettuce) cheeseburger with fries and a drink. I don’t like fountain drinks, so the lady behind the register allowed me to grab a canned juice from the little fridge instead. Yay! +1 star!
I really liked the burger and fries, but remember I was really hungry. Parking is pretty easy during the weekday lunch hours. There are also a few tables inside the well-​kept establishment. I will def be back when I’m craving a burger and fries :) They also have plate lunch options.

There’s few locations of this place, this being one of them. There was a shop near Sweet Home Café in Moiiliili but it looks like they’re closed or renovating as of 5÷7÷12. There’s also a branch in Aiea which I have personally never been to.
If you love BBQ or a fan of meat you’ll enjoy the food here. Especially when it’s laced with that smoked goodness of Kiawe. Everything from the BBQ chicken to the burgers, you’ll taste the Kiawe. The fries are steak fries so they’re pretty big, in size and portion. You kinda wish that applied to everything else because this location isn’t too generous with the portions.
Me personally… I’m a little disappointed that you can’t pick out your own «banchan“like you get to at the Moiiliili branch. There you can choose stuff like Kim Chee, tofu, shoyu potato, bean sprouts or the choi sum. But here you don’t get any of that. You simply get a scoop of of mac salad and tossed salad as a side. Prices are pretty comparable too so you’re actually getting less for your money here.
So if you’re craving Kiawe, check out the Moiiliili branch before you choose this place as an option.

I have walked by this small group of store fronts for over 5 years and have never stopped. I decided that today was the day to try this place, because of Chad’s review.
I ordered the Pulehu 8 oz steak and took it home to eat. It was just okay. I will try a burger next time.
4÷2÷12− Today I tried the cheeseburger with bacon and garlic fries. I thought it was good, but nothing amazing. A little annoyed that they put mayonaise on my burger. This is one «Hawaii thing» that I will never get used to. Where I come from, there is no mayo on a burger. Grrrrrr

I’m gonna have to say that this place is just A-​Ok. So the fiancé and I decided that we wanted to play tourist in Waikiki. We wanted to play tourist huh… we did when we ate here for over priced food. LOL. I got the shrimp and scallop. It was real good… cooked BBQ style over kiawe wood. I had three small pieces. It was like pupus for me. The fiancé got steak of course and it was also delicious.
It was cool though listening to live hawaiian music and watching a hula dancer entertain everyone.
The service was so-​so because we got our food after the two other orders after us. :/​
Try it. It won’t hurt to try.

ANYTIME meat is smoked, particularly with kiawe wood (otherwise known as mesquite), it’s hard to be disappointed. I enjoy the variety of meats that Kiawe Grill has to offer which ranges from your expected BBQ meats such as Kal-​Bi, Chicken to buffalo and ostrich. I usually enjoy their BBQ chicken because of the nice, sweet, smokey, flame-​broiled flavor. Plus, the heaping amount of food never fails to fill me up. For a quick, tasty bite, Kiawe Grill doesn’t disappoint.
The Makaloa location doesn’t have an option where you get to choose your side dishes like the McCully location, but they’re practically the same.

Ive been coming here often, almost too often and its not cheap, but Im addicted. I love buffalo, elk and other gamey meat.
My usual is a mini salmon plate with 2 buffalo patties, I know its a lot but I dont eat all the rice or any of the mac salad. This order isnt on the menu, its basically custom ordered by request. When I first came in here and requested my order they looked at me like I was out of my mind, but now when I come in they know what I want. Ive basically never eaten anything else from this place.
The salmon is grilled with their pulehu seasoning as is the buffalo which is cooked med rare, I like it a bit red in the middle. The kiawe smoked taste is subtle and not too stiff. The gamey taste is more prevalent in the elk than that of the buffalo, Ive had the buffalo so much in the past few months its starting to taste like regular beef to me, not sure if thats a good thing.
Yes you will smell like youve been at the bon fire when you leave so I wait outside. Im trying to convince them to make my order a menu regular and name it after me but thats a work in progress.